Phantasm: Dark Magic
by raditus
Summary: Buffy and the gang relocated to Oregon following the events at Sunnydale. Willow has come back from magickally traveling aborad and has a dark secret that will threaten the scooby gang - as well as the rest of Humanity! This is Buffy/Phantasm X-over.
1. Chapter 1: Discovery

"Jesus," Faith muttered as they hit the lone cemetery during their patrols. "What do you think it was; vamps?" Half of the cemetery plots before the two slayers were nothing more than square, empty spaces.

Buffy was crouched beside an open grave, frowning. "No, these graves are too neatly dug." She straightened up quickly realizing something, "Faith, more than half of have no coffins in them."

Faith whispered, "Some of these look fresh, B!"

Indeed, some of them look fresh. It was the kind of fresh you couldn't mistake when you see the newly dug Earth pile; or the big scuff marks that were the tires treads of a Hearse.

"I don't like this, let's bail," Faith said, uncharacteristically nervous. 'We can always come back later-"

Buffy was hit from behind with a shovel – the shovel head bending easily as it connected with the Slayer's back. Buffy lay on her back, stunned by being taken unawares. The figure stood her, holding the shaft of the shovel over its head to impale it through her skull. She reflexively kicked out. The figure launched backwards under the impact of the Slayer's strength. It hit a grave monument, making spider-cracks across the marbled surface. Faith helped a still groggy Buffy to her feet.

"Someone ate their wheaties," Faith cracked, in regards the murderous figure.

Both Slayers stood over the now non-moving figure. It smelled rank, mostly an embalming fluid-like smell, but that could have just been the yellow gunk it was now laying in. It was dressed in a ratty, mold encased jumpsuit, and a gasmask. Without any wisecracks, Buffy hefted the mask off the figure. They gaped in shock at what they saw. It was a woman before she died. Her face looked funky – complete with the hackneyed 'bags-under-the-eyes'. At this range, the smell from the fluid was making both Buffy and Faith gag. They saw the gaping hole in her head caused by the impact of the gravestone. What was supposed to be red blood pouring out was not red at all; it was a yellow color. Buffy swore off eating anything with Mustard for awhile.

"What Demon do you think it is?" Faith asked. "Seen anything like it before?" The reason Faith asked was that it was known that Buffy faced off with Demons that Faith hadn't.

"I don't know- but if there are vamps in the area – they'll most likely know."

Later in the cemetery, Buffy found a vagrant 'pack' of Demon-spawned Vampires camping out on the outskirts of the place. From what the Slayers could tell from eavesdropping, the Vamps were enraged at the dead bodies being taken and evidently destroyed. Buffy and Faith waited until a Vampire wandered too far from the little nest.

"Tell me what you know about the bodies being destroyed." Buffy demanded, "And I'll make it quick." She trained the stake over the vampire's heart. "Tell us nothing, or lie to us and I swear; I'll still dust you but I'll be slow with the stake, _real_ slow."

"They say the bodies are destroyed, but not really." Seeing both girls' look of not understanding, the Vampire added, "It ruined them as food to us! The ones who were changed and brought back to life - they're no longer human! Once this happens, they cannot come back as one of us!"

"Thank god for small favors," Faith replied dryly. She added, "Not human – some Demon changing Humans then?"

The Vampire shook its head, stating, "I don't know." Faith started digging the point of the stake slowly into its skin. It was panicked now. "I don't know man! All I know is some dudes in gas masks come in here late at night and dig up corpses. They see ones too far gone and cremate them. The vamps that were going to rise- this guy slew them even before they arose."

"Guy," Buffy demanded, "What guy?"

"I don't know- The guy doing the slaying is fairly young, tall and wears a suit. I've seen a tall old guy too. The older one is real arrogant – keep an eye for that one." Buffy and Faith thanked the Vampire for the information.

"Can I go now?"

They dusted it. "I don't like this," Buffy cut in. "People are slaying vamps like it's a fun show- a game. Vampires are scared of them too, and this whole Human-into-something-not-vampire paints more Big Bads. I thought relocating to Oregon would have helped – being as was assured not to lay on a Hell-Mouth."

"There was movie that took place in Oregon. All these small towns got pretty much totaled." Faith explained as they resumed patrolling in the cemetery – scouting for Vampires, or shovel people. "There was a real bad space Alien who couldn't be stopped and loads of people died just for finding out about it."

"I am not blaming anyone, but this weirdness didn't start until Willow came back from her special trip. Willow came back from her travel… wrong." Buffy explained to Faith. They could relax on the patrolling, but not entirely. Just because there was anymore creature-feature sightings didn't mean anyone had to be careless. "Not wrong as major injuries, but wrong upstairs."

"Willow flipped out?" Faith asked, amused at the sight of locals flipping out over Dark Willow.

"It wasn't funny-"Buffy replied as she dusted a fledging vampire. "She didn't tell us what made her edgy. All we know is that any cars that slowed down past the Magic Box at night she got ready to-"Her speech was cut short when something small, brown and low to the ground slammed into her. Whatever ever it was making these disgusting growling noises.

The sounds of thuds and smacks resounded through the clearing as the duo quickly grabbed, smashed in and backhanded a lot of small brown figures. More Grave Diggers rushed them too. Buffy stood over the last corpse of the brown things. Faith stood with her looking down at the form and the thick viscous yellow fluid pooling around it.

"Um, _yuck_," Buffy muttered as she wiped her yellow covered hands on her summarily covered blouse.

The battered form wore a dark brown robe. Besides only being Hobbit sized, it made her heart sink. She knew a group that wore brown robes – Glory's Minions. She pulled back the hood and jumped slightly. It was a person's face, not one of the minions. This didn't make her feel better though, the face was mutated into a visage that almost resembled a Demon Spawn Vampire.

"I think we need to grab it and bail," Faith almost pleaded. "That was too many – even being Slayers that was too much. With zombie monks and mutants in hazard clothing, I'd hate to think of what the backup is."

Even as she felt deathly cold fear twist around in her gut, Buffy stated, "We bail – we need Giles's input." While she hoisted the corpse, she felt like she was being watched. Far off, she could hear a noise that could only be described as a hacking, disgusting cough. Some other cried rang out in chorus that sounded like a twisted version those Raider things from Star Wars. Andrew would have known the name, if he was on patrol with them.

Faith swore, "Move, now!"

They bolted out of the cemetery, and past some Vampires who'd just crawled from their graves. Faith happened to glance back and see them yanked backwards by the evil Hobbits. The vampires indignant roars were heard fading behind them as they hit the main streets.

As they moved quickly, creature in tow, Buffy spotted two figures gracefully making their way past headstones. Lamplights from the nearby street illuminated the two figures, giving them an even further ghastly look. A vampire jumped the duo, thinking them an easy meal. The tall, elderly man caught it by the throat and hoisted it up with one hand. Both women could see the old man give the errant vamp an angry scowl, as if it was nothing more than an unruly child.

"How dare you assault us – CREATURE," The man yelled. He snarled the last word.

The Vampire just laughed and spit in his face. The old man threw the Vampire back. The Slayers realized that this man was not normal, not since the vampire hit a tree with an impact that would kill a Human. It leapt up, and other tall man, a younger one, with brown, long hair, led the older man to it. The other man held the Vampire in place long enough to point out where its heart was to the old man. Suddenly, the other man staked the vampire, making it dust. The older man staggered back a few steps, eyeing the dust pile that had once been an unruly creature.

They both then walked on, discussing something, but neither woman could hear what.

They saw both tall men had grim, set looks as they came to the pile of Hobbits, as well as the corpses of the unlucky Grave Diggers.

"Faith, you see that?"

"Damn B, they look like straight from that horror movie!" As if he had heard them, the older man looked around quickly. Both Slayers heard more disgusting barking yells far off, and they ran away from the cemetery. Both Slayers stopped running once they hit one of the main streets filled with shops.


	2. Chapter 2: Problems

"Do be careful with that," Giles exclaimed as one of their new hired helpers were moving a crate.

The crate contained priceless occult reagents. Loosing them would prove very costly. After making sure the items were secure, Giles made his way to Willow, who was seated. He didn't get back in from London with Andrew and Faith, until after Willow's incident. Shortly after, they recreated the Magic Box. Willow had been hesitant at first, of Magick; afraid she'd go Dark. It worried Giles, because she was ok after her little escape into London with him. This concerned Giles. Since she vanished a month back after her events after her sabbatical, everyone had assumed that she moved on – away from the team. Just a couple of weeks ago, Willow had reappeared in a state. To say state had been understating the case. Whenever she slept, it was always the same thing.

"Mike, no," She muttered one night in her sleep. After while, Willow mumbled in her sleep, "Not _you too- Stay away from – don't hurt him_!" then Willow burst into her tears in her asleep.

That shocked Xander who'd woken Willow up and comforted her. She hugged him, sobbing in fear. "There was nothing I could do Xander. It wasn't supposed to happen! I changed _everything_ just by being there!" Willow had such a look of pain but she wasn't ready to share – yet. Xander knew that sometimes it was just best to back off until the other person felt like sharing. Even then it tore him up, it was _Willow_ who'd done more of the pain bearing thing!

Giles stood, leaning against the doorframe to Willow's apartment. She sat, working on her computer. She was searching some thing about mysterious vortexes or some such. Giles cleared his throat gently and Willow turned around.

"Oh- Giles, what's going on? Need my help?" She sounded like the Willow that he knew in the past, and not this haunted shadow of a person.

"We need to know soon what happened to you." He started wiping his glasses off. "No details if you don't feel comfortable – but please, an outline would be crucial for you."

"I will – soon. It's just that there was a lot of things that happened that were painful. I've learned my lesson on doing anything new."

The last sentence shocked Giles. In the realm of magick, Willow thrived on doing new spells. "Yes, well anytime you feel like talking." He left the room.

Willow turned back towards a leaked Youtube broadcast that was slammed on the site recently. Her stomach burned horribly as if she had an ulcer when she released she was looking at an amateur video. It was an amateur video of two shiny metal poles, each a distance away from each other. The poles were far apart, and _bigger_. There was a strange sound coming from them, a deeper humming – more ominous.

Faith made the call on the cell phone. Already Buffy had to knock the Hobbit out when it started coming to, growling that disgusting coughing. 'Yeah, boss man – we ran into graveyard problems."

Giles asked hurriedly, "What problems?"

"What about several Hobbits and people wearing gas-masks? And, oh yeah, they have mustard-for-blood?" Buffy shouted as she had to subdue the creature again. "That decided that vamps were the food of choice?" Actually, Buffy didn't know what happened to them – if the demon things ate them. She sure as Hell _didn't_ want to find out!

"B, you forgot that creepy old dude and that other guy, "Faith began, "That duo that were doing their own patrolling thing. - I said they looked like they came straight off a movie." Speaking to Giles, Faith stated, "They _both _nearly hit the seven foot mark. One of them showed the other how to dust a Vamp."

Giles looked gob smacked when Willow walked into the demon-slaying-meeting-room-part of the store. "You're bringing one of the _Hobbits_ here?" After awhile, Giles asked, "Are you sure that's wise? If what you've told me about those two is true, it might point to a new Demon infestation. Who knows what information these creatures can glean-"After awhile, he'd seemed satisfied and stated, "Ok, alright – if you're sure that's prudent." Giles hung up.

"Let me guess," Willow stated, brightening – "Buffy and Faith found a portal to Middle Earth. Giles saw that she was serious, leaving him wondering what exactly her travels entailed.

"I'm afraid not," Willow's face fell. Giles added, "I need your help to research an evident new Demon infestation."

"_Another_ one," Willow began. "I thought those lower demons in the service of the Haures were bad enough."

Willow remembered last week when some new Demons flocked into the area. These stronger Demons, called Haures controlled them. They had a time of it, slaying them and clearing the corpses out before the townspeople noticed anything the next day. The scoobies found that Haures blood stank, and was hard to get out of clothing. To any passer-by, it would have seemed that rank smelling blue 'ink' was the new fashion.

"Yes, well Buffy and Faith seem very concerned. They were ambushed and their attackers even saw fit to drag some Vampires away." New Demons finding Vampires worthy bash targets? Willow concluded that these new Demons might not be harmless like Hobbits after all.

A figure sat, in the dark watching the two girls yelling over a cell phone. His gut twisted and churned when he saw what they were carting around – a Lurker! He thought it was bad enough the other night when some dude with a malformed face and serious overbite tried grabbing him. From his experience a year ago, he'd realized what it was. He couldn't stake it, but he called for a passing police car. The vampire decided a meal wasn't going to be worth the hassle of dealing with firearms and nightclubs tonight. The man was more cautious as a result, realizing that Vampire permeated this area. He looked grim as one of the women mocked the mysterious duo they'd seen earlier. If they knew what was happening, or why they were there, the girls would've check out mentally!


	3. Chapter 3: Unexpected

Xander stepped in from getting the team donuts. He'd snagged them from down the street when Buffy and Faith charged in the Magic Box. They looked like Hell and smelled like it too. They were covered in what looked like the newest fashion in Demon blood. Willow seemed to go pale at the blood. It seemed like the mustard thick gore reminded her of something. She looked cagey and torn – as if she was torn between seeing what was going on or running from the room screaming in fear.

"How does this fit your bill of Demons, Giles?" Buffy shot as she slammed the form of the Hobbit thing down in middle of the table.

The group stared down in horror. It was short like a Hobbit, but there the similarities ended. It had parts of its body pulped by Faith and Buffy, yellow gore long since dried. Its face looked vaguely human, but with a sickeningly gross cast to it and similar brow ridges of that of a Demon Vampire. The fingernails had long since been warped into claws – not unlike those of a Vampire. "These things swamped us at the Cemetery- along with nasty people with gas masks. Half of the graves looked like they had been dug up."

"Like vamps had up and vamoosed?" Xander asked a sick feeling in his stomach.

"No, _dug_ up," Faith stated, "Like someone with too much time on their hands _dug_ them up – exhumations give me the creeps."

"It weighs as much as a full grown adult," Buffy reported. "If I wasn't a Slayer, I wouldn't have been able to haul it."

Andrew came from the break room, eyeing the nearly dead form. "It looks more like a Jawa than a Demon." He made a face at the odor coming from it. "What did you do it? It reeks!" He made another face of disgust at the odor wafting from its body. It reminded everyone of diseased skin and Embalming Fluids.

Willow, finally seeing what Buffy and Faith dragged in, made a horrible screech that made everyone's blood run cold. She ran from the meeting room and into her own apartment above. They could hear her above sobbing – no - _shrieking_ in fear! Xander leapt up and ran for her.

The figure followed the two dimwitted young ladies back to their lair. He winced; two Humans did not belong in lairs. He picked that up from that _man._ He waited outside, on side of the dark road, outside the shop. He saw the banner that said, _Magic Box – Grand Opening._ It gave the date as the next day. He briefly wondered what kind of shop this was – what they sold.

Willow sobbed in wild, gut burning fear. She should have _never_ gone to that place – to that alternate reality. It was all because of a stupid dare! Someone pounded on the door and she hitched her breath.

"Will – can I come in?" It was Xander. Willow gave him permission. He moved to her bedside where she sat – clutching a small pillow as if it was her lifeline. He hugged her, letting her be able cry it out.

Later, Willow and Xander rejoined the others. The Dwarf had been moved and restrained somewhere else. Giles begged Buffy not to knock it out anymore – they needed it alive to tell them what it was, or what it knew. Willow still looked frightened but she spoke at last.

"I want to explain everything." Giles sat in stunned silence as Willow began her story. "It was a stupid dare about going to other realities. Where, you know, TV show and movie events really happened?" Willow continued. "Well it was a dare to go to the Phantasm reality, where all four of the movies actually happened."

"As seen on TV," Xander quipped. Willow shrugged.

"It kind of started that way, l but I staid away from where metal flying objects would be." Faith nodded - that was the movie she was telling Buffy about. Willow might be good in Magics, but brain drilling, laser wielding metals balls were not healthy for a witch – let alone anyone – to face down! "Everything was going ok; I was researching all the characters. It was going good, until the events of Oblivion." The door of the Magic Box opened suddenly, making every jump, and Faith and Buffy swing around into fighting stances.


	4. Chapter 4: The Secret Revealed

For awhile no one entered the shop. Willow sat –holding her breath in fear. Then, after awhile, this man came in. He used a wheel chair, which was evident right away. He wore faded jeans and a lumber jack shirt that looked aged. He was pretty much bald, but had long hair in the back that was tied in a ponytail. He had a full beard thing going for him.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir." Giles stated. 'We are closed until tomorrow." The man's eyes scanned the group. They noticed then he cradled an aged looking massive shotgun in his lap.

Willow's eyes went wide. "_Reggie?"_ She darted forward and Reg's eyes widened in shock at seeing her. They briefly hugged in a friendship hug.

"Will, who is this?" Buffy asked. She eyed the man cautiously. She couldn't help being cautious, she was a Slayer after all.

"I'm Reggie," Reggie began. He centered back to Willow. "I thought he caught you." His voice was surprisingly laid back. "I know how persistent any version of The Tall Man can be when he goes stalker over someone."

"Willow, THE _Tall man _went after you?" A chill filled Buffy's gut. "Then the creepy gang we saw earlier-."

"The Tall man," Faith cut in, "We saw him earlier tonight." She told Reggie. "And some other dude."

"What other dude?"

"It was some guy, wandering around with Tall Man. We got word these two guys were doing some funky operation." She'd left out the part where the other Tall Man perfectly executed a Vampire; all for just spitting in their faces.

"What can you tell me about this Tall man? Is he a demon?" Giles asked, curious.

"So, aren't you guys bugging out?" Reg asked, interested in this group. "A lot of people would do the freaking out thing right about now." He looked from Slayer to Slayer, "And no, he isn't a demon."

"I was telling them about the _incident_." Willow cut in, more relaxed now that a familiar face entered their side. Reg gave a look at her. Xander noticed it briefly, it held sad remembrance. "I appeared a couple of years after I met Mike when he was a kid. I didn't mean it – I wasn't trying to. We bumped into each other." She looked the Faith, "You know the ice cream truck spewing cold scene?" Faith nodded and Willow continued her tale. "It was nothing too spectacular, just a hello-goodbye scene. I came back home to restock on stuff and went back, this time to the middle of Oblivion." She shuddered and Buffy thought that what she went through must have been oblivion for her.

"I found her, wandering around, with no aim on where to go." Reg stated, wheeling himself to the meeting table. "She was right in the middle of one of the town that the Tall Man already hit. If I hadn't found her, she'd walk right into a Mausoleum and-"Buffy held up her hand.

"Don't need the visuals – shotgun man."

"More like Quad Damage man," Xander stated, finally noticing exactly how many barrels the weapon had. "You kill any Demons with that?"

"If you meant Lurkers and Gravers, I've shot plenty. Seems like all it takes is this baby and they're out of the game for good."

"Lurkers," Faith asked. "Those Hobbit things, right?" Reggie nodded. "Do you know what the gas mask dudes are?"

"Gravers," Reg reported with hesitation. "They also work for the Tall Man. They do every grunt work. Everything from digging up the dead – to cleaning up witnesses that Lurkers and Sentinels don't get first." Reg added, "My recent mishap wasn't from any of those. Tall M-"He trailed off, looking at Willow.

"One of the Tall Mans kinds grabbed him." Willow felt nauseated from the memory. The group shut their eyes, only imagining what happened – gore and all. "I was there when it happened."

"You went patrolling with him?" Buffy asked. "You didn't know him!"

"I knew who he was, that he was in the clear. Besides, he had a cool weapon." Willow put on her resolve face and got defensive when her choice of companions was brought into light. "We met up with the adult Mike, who was fairly normal at the time." She left out the sick part about what he was turning into. "Somehow he recognized me from when he was a kid. He was amazed that I hadn't aged and we got to talking. We decided to patrol – for Lurkers, Gravers and Vampires. Mike didn't buy into the whole Demons and Vampires thing – he just thought it was society's way of explaining the gifts that the Tall Man leaves behind. It turned out a nest of them set up shop just outside a graveyard."

"I had a nightmare the night before, before running into your friend." Reg cut in. He left out the part about the sphere incident, Mike's bioconversion, and Jennifer. "Then later that night, it came true."

"Wait," Xander wasn't computing. "That night, if it is the dream sequence I am thinking about, it was just a dream sequence.

"Mike didn't let us know he _took up on the Tall Man's 'take my hand' offer_!" Willow said defensively. "We got attacked by the Tall Man himself on patrol." Willow stated. "He didn't bother with a Hearse; he rushed right out of the long weeds! I think he created a gate just outside of them and waited to ambush us." Reg gave a look of agreement. Willow's mind flashed back to that moment.

The sounds of undead flesh being punctured followed by muted thunder repeatedly rang out. "Go, I'm covering!" Mike yelled out.

Willow saw the look on Mike's face as he took out loads of vamps. It was a look of sadistic satisfaction. It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise; even more so when he'd levitated a broken branch and slammed it home into a Vampire.

"You are going to tell me what those things are!" Reg demandedof Willow as he had to stake a vamp through the heart himself that jumped out in front of them. He ended on the ground suddenly, not having experienced a vampire dusting before. He coughed up Vamp dust, pulling a face. "How do they do that?"

"I never thought about it really," Willow tried explaining. Mike joined up with them once the threat was gone. "I guess it's because they're corpses." As they cleared the batch of vamps, she added, "Makes for convenient cleanup." Reg chuckled. "Vampires are corpses reanimated and possessed by Demons. They wake up with a new drink of choice, living Human Blood. Buffy mentioned The Red Cross to some years ago, but they want their meals alive and kicking."

Reggie felt sick inside at hearing of corpses running around and eating blood. Lurkers, Gravers, and the others weren't really dead anymore as The Tall Man successfully reanimated them. Even so, they didn't to imbibe blood!

"How else do you kill them- other than the stakes?" Mike asked. Willow answered, even as a small gang of vampires joined

As her, Mike and Reggie were slaying vampires, Willow responded, "The ones I know are: beheading, sunlight and fire. Holy water is supposed to be more of a very strong repellent, but Buffy – my friend that I mentioned earlier – tricked a Vampire into drinking Holy Water. It was Dust City for him." Willow watched as Mike digested this information. He had this cold, calculating look on his face that Willow wasn't sure she liked. "The Master sort of doesn't dust."

"Who the hell is the Master?" Reggie asked. He stopped, glaring at Willow. "Is he like the Tall Man?"

"If you meant power-wise – yeah, he sort of was. But he was just a Human until he was turned into a vampire. Then he was sort of like a king," Willow whispered back. She felt the tides of Magic flare with danger and using a movement she'd seen Buffy do, hunched down and slowed to a crawl. Reg did the same. "About the dusting, dust flew off of him, but his skeleton remained, to be used in a dark art ritual."

"_Dark art_ ritual," Mike began. He'd say the words with a scowl- like believing in Magic was stupid – useless, "what happened?"

Willow was sure she'd picked up on a noise, a humming that sounded kind of like a sound clip she'd heard from a Phantasm fan site. She'd forgotten what the sound was, however. It sounded like a deep hum that would occasionally fluctuate between tones.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered, wondering if it was only something she'd pick up being a Witch.

Reg pushed her back and to the side, stalking forward. For once, Willow was insulted then quashed the feeling, realizing Reg didn't know what else she went through, or what else she was capable of. She could see that Reg was straining to listen to what Willow claimed to hear. Evidently, he did, for his eyes widened in horror.

"Oh Shi-," It was all he got out, for a hand came down and whirled Reg around. Willow spun around to, thinking it was some Vampire that slipped passed Mike. Speaking of Mike – he was just talking seconds ago. The air turned still too quickly and Willow knew something was wrong.

It seemed as if the Tall Man caught up to them. Willow gazed up and gaped, unable to process what was happening. Mike was suddenly donning a copy of the Tall Man's suit _and_ height! Willow now saw that this whole time, he wore the suit under the black clothing. His face was the same, but more _evil_ somehow. He started grinning at Reg, who only could gape at him as well.

"Mike, no," Willow whimpered, seeing what the Tall Man did to Mike. "Not _you too-" _

"Reg," Mike began, interrupting Willow, his face crumpling in distress. "I- I can't control myself." Willow recognized the signs of fighting Darkness on the inside.

"Mike, I know the darker side of you wants to come out to play," Willow stated. Mike gazed her, his gaze flickering between torment and arrogance. "But you have to shut that back down inside of you. You have a duty to Humanity now, even more so at having slain Vampires." Mike visibly looked like he was fighting the alien dark inside of him. By now, Reggie was holding the gun at Mike, but his hands were far from steady; the gun was shaking in small, wild tremors.

The Tall Man himself chose that moment to attack. Willow shrieked as his old, lank grizzled form bounded from the long reeds and other fauna. He didn't even roar in triumph as even the basest of Demons were apt to do. The Tall Man made Reggie fly backwards without laying a hand on him!

"Spirit of serpents, now appear, "Willow began. At never seen or heard her casting a spell before, Tall Mike sneered at her trembling form.

"A _poem_," He looked at her coldly. "What makes you think a _poem_ will stop us – just words?"

"The girl plays a _very _strange game." The Tall Man began. He then added, "Humor the child, _Boy_, and let her speak." the way he spoke frightened Willow more than she let on. He talked to Mike, but looked at her – speaking in a tone reserved for children!

"Spirit of serpents now appear," Willow began again, putting on her resolve face. "Hissing, writhing, striking near!" Instantly at Mike's feet appeared a lot of snakes. They seemed almost see-through. They tried wrapping around his legs and biting him!

"What is this _trickery_?" Mike bellowed in anger as he shook his legs and stomped down, wiping out some of the snakes in the process. The Tall Man saw that even his newest protégée was outmatched and leapt into the pile and started killing the snakes.

When they were distracted, Willow ran to Reggie and helped him up to his feet. Reggie stood, slack-jawed, taking in the scene of the murder spree of the snakes. He turned back to Willow.

"What did you just do?"

She cast a hurried, fear filled look back towards the evil duo. "Saved our asses; we need to bail."

"GIRL," The Tall Man bellowed.

It was the same volume and length as when Willow heard him in the first Phantasm movie, yelling for Mike. Being called this way filled Willow with a rabid surge of fear. She was dimly aware of Reg yelling for her to get out of there! With that fear, Willow done the thing she feared most; she lost control of the magick! Instantly, making Reg blabber and point, her skin, veins, eyes and hair turned back into Willow-point-Dark. Without thinking she held up her hand, which was curled as if grabbing the very air. The Tall Man's eyes widened at the change. Mike stepped back, mistaking the black eyes for what _he_ could do! The Tall Man, seriously angry with her impetuousness, charged at Willow!

"Air becomes fist!" She bellowed in Latin.

Instantly, she felt the air twist and form into her hand. It was quite like pulling back a little section of air, not unlike a slingshot. It felt weird, but she had no time to stop and feel it out. She let go in the direction of the Tall Man. The air unseen snapped forwards towards him. He charged right into it, and flew backwards. The sight of an almost seven foot tall man being sent through the air like a rag doll was impressive. It was impressive up until the point where he slammed up against a tree. He hung there for a couple of seconds and Willow had an image of him sliding slowly down the tree, like in cartoons. She pulled a face when he gazed down in utter terror and saw, along with Reg and Mike, a massive branch sticking out from his chest and stomach. The wood of the branch was now coated in yellow colored gore; his innards spilling out. The Tall Man was dead, there was no question.

"Oh gross," Willow began, even her white skin had gone green. She hunched over and muttered, "Oh, _sick_." After this, everyone heard the sounds of Willow Rosenberg getting sick. Mike had wandered up to the impaled corpse of the Tall Man. Willow stood up, hair back to red.

"You killed my _mentor, the one who taught me everything!" _Tall Mike charged suddenly! He bore down on them, screaming like an enraged bull!

Reggie brought the Quad-gun up as he pushed Willow ahead. Willow whirled around to see Tall Mike reach Reggie. It was too late for him to get off the shot. With a bellow that reminded Willow of a Gorilla, Mike effortlessly batted the gun out of Reggie's hands.

"_Stay away from – don't hurt him_!" Willow screeched in terror as Mike lifted Reg off the ground.

He brought Reg down on his back sharply, right across his knee. There was a loud crack that rent the air. It reminded Willow of a branch snapping quite audibly. Instantly, Reg started screaming in agony even as Mike dropped him, leaving on the ground for dead. A sadistic smirk appeared on his features as he gazed at the good-as-dead-Reg. Willow, in her sheer fog of terror as she ran, never would have believed that Mike, the friendly ole' Mikey that only moments ago hunted Gravers, Lurkers and Vampires, would turn into _this _kind of monster! When Willow finished telling the tale, there was not a face that was not shocked, nor tears streaming.


	5. Chapter 5: Reflection in Dreaming

"Oh, my god," Buffy began; only being able to whisper. She then clamped her hand to her mouth in horror. Even Giles looked horrified. 'How did you get away?"

"I threw him off my scent using some vamps. These were new; they thought him nothing more than a really tall Human." Willow shuddered at the memory of him really not needing to use stakes anymore. "Ripping heads off vamps works the same as decapitations."

"If you killed this tall man, then we only have one Demon left to deal with." Giles cut in. he noticed Buffy and Faith giving him glares. "There are more of them?"

"The Tall Man, formerly known as Jebediah Morningside, has a nasty habit of coming back." Reg replied. He felt bad at having to be the bearer of bad news, but this was war!

"Ok, hold your horses," Xander began. He got a disturbingly clear image of what _good ole' Jeb_ looked like _after _Willow's feat. "He's going to be walking around, how? He's impaled on a tree – in another reality."

"Not so much," Buffy began sharply, "Faith and I saw them, remember?" She turned to Reg. "How does he do that?"

Reg shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "Don't know. Mike and I tried going over this before. We don't know if he's cloned or if time shatters when we use the gates, different Tall Men bounding through the gates from different time periods. All we know is that only one seems to be called at a time."

"Granddaddy Evil has the whole Chosen motif too." Faith snickered lightly.

'Chosen," Reg began. He turned to Giles. "What did she mean by Chosen?"

Giles went through his whole speech about the earth when it first began. Then he went on about the Slayers. After which Reg sat stunned. "You lot have been fighting evil since _High School_?" He gazed into the faces that confirmed his statement. "I am not too happy about that, but if any group can get some much needed answers, yours can."

Reg really wasn't too thrilled with them fighting spooky things, evil things, since High School. Just knowing that teenagers were running _towards_ some of the very things that made the Tall Man seem housebroken made him shocked.

"So, again, what Demons are these Tall men?"

Reg stifled a laugh, remembering these people were still far out of the loop dealing with the Tall People. "Demons, Hell no," Seeing Giles's look, he added, "Rupert, The Tall Man is an alien."

"Then we ship their big, tall butts back to the country they came from." Xander stated, getting some laughs.

"Xander," Buffy replied, "he meant the kind that comes from another planet."

"How the hell did they get to your version of Earth?" Faith demanded, glaring at Reg.

"I don't know exactly. Mike was telling me that Human Jebediah Morningside created the dimensional fork to travel. Something that looked like him came back. "

"Well from what I've seen," Faith began, "it sounds like he's way off the chart psycho."

Buffy's jaws were clinched at anger at what the Tall man and this Tall Mike nearly did to Willow. "Is there any weakness we can use?"

"Contact with cold stuff hurts them pretty bad – burns them." Reg stated. "Fire extinguishers outright kill them. Sentinel Spheres are drastically slowed by Liquid Nitro – doesn't kill them, my team found that out." He pulled out his old tuning fork. "This baby can wipe out the spheres in no time flat." He sighed, "With the Tall People, it just makes them not move for some time."

Giles took the turning fork and examined it, "Their technology is based on sound, yes?"

Reg nodded while Giles handed the thing back.

"More like certain vibrations. As for the Gates - you touch the posts to shut it down."

Xander just remembered the scene from the first movie. He never remembered the others after that. "But how do they make their own gates?"

"We don't know. I only know that some time ago, the Tall Man was able to make a gate inside my own hallway. I keep having a feeling there was something Mike wasn't telling me." He sighed, looked like he was going to add more, but then yawned loudly. He glanced at the gang sheepishly. "Sorry, I got to go. I got to get some sleep."

After Reg had left the store, Buffy sprang into action. "Giles, look in your books to see if there is any demons close enough to use some of their weaknesses as well."

"He said this guy came from another planet," Xander cut in. "But in my opinion, if could be a Demon of that world." He shrugged, "I agree with Buffy; let's research."

"Willow, get some sleep." Giles gently told her. "I have a feeling that man will be back, and we need to be alert with the customers coming in."

"Willow should stay in the apartment all day then." Faith said, then saw everyone's look. "Is everyone sleeping now? For the Grand Opening, everyone will be coming in off the street to shop and look around."

It sunk in and Giles looked uncomfortable about the prospect of people that nearly hurt Willow being in the store. Of course, they couldn't hurt them without making a scene in public and facing the consequences- both Legal and otherworldly. Willow was allowed to retreat to her apartment as the others cleaned up the mess and executed the Lurker so no news would leak back to The Tall People. She cast a gentle, simple spell at her small altar, wishing to have prophetic dreams. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Willow was in a strange house. The air felt like it was spring. Not too hot, but not cold either; it was pleasant. There were no lights on, but all of the curtains over the windows had been pulled back, exposing the interior to subtle sunlight. She stepped into the hallway bathroom, marveling how well this dream was playing out, despite the events that happened. Willow was doing normal stuff at the bathroom sink and she turned to the tub. Mike was there, eyeing her! She didn't crash out of the bathroom, as it was Adult Pre-Tall Mike. She stepped forward, stepping over the bathtub side.

"You don't have to be scared – you don't have to run anymore." He gently spoke to her, the calm tones of his voice washing over her. He gracefully swept some hair out of her face. Someone on the other side of the door knocked, wanting to use the bathroom. "No one can know about us," He whispered.

"Willow, are you in there?" It was Faith's voice. "Are you ok?"

Willow looked to Mike, who'd already backed up, and was standing back in the tub. Right when he made a shushing signal, he stepped backward, father into the tub. With a weird noise, he faded completely. At that moment, Willow woke up. There was no Faith at her door, but Willow saw sunlight pouring in the window and decided her help would be needed with the shop.

Xander moved around, helping the others set up the finishing touches before the Grand Opening. He saw Willow coming down the steps and asked, "Hey Will," Xander began, already knowing the answer, "please tell me last night was a bad nightmare."

"Sorry," She stated. She felt still felt scared heartbroken, but much better at having told them what went down. "Last night was definitely awaken-in-the-real-world."

"Hey, did anything happen between you and Gun Man?" Xander changed the subject. "The one thing I remembered from the other movie is that he was always hitting on that army girl – then the other girl – Jennifer."

"No problem there," Willow began, thinking about on the Pre-Tall Mike dream. She figured it was because her mind wanted to go back to when Mike was 'normal' and _didn't_ break Reggie's back. "Since I am not into guys, I told him that. From the Macho guy that he is – I figured that he'd turn his back on me. He still thinks it odd but didn't leave me to fend for myself either."

'Do you think he'll back?" Faith asked, wandering into the area. "I kind of like him. And everyone, spare me the 'he's-much-older-lecture.'"

Andrew walked in from where ever he was. "Hey guys, I'm trying to unlock the secrets to this Tall Man's biology." Seeing everyone's look, he added, "I just want to know. Anyway, I've watched a nonstop Phantasm marathon. All I've gathered is theory on a small part of his biology."

"Which would be what?" Willow asked.

"In Oblivion, the fourth movie, there was a flashback of a hanging scene. The Tall Man _survived_ being hung in a noose for hours. The only way he could have done that is through a _Respiratory Bypass System_. In Doctor Who, Time lords can go without air for while-"

A woman's not so amused laugh rang out. "So this is the best we got?" It was Buffy and she wasn't amused with Andrew. "This Tall Mike is zeroed in on Willow and all we can come up with is why some guy didn't die by hanging?" Willow, unseen by the others, snuck off back up to her apartment.

"Gee Buff," Xander retorted. "Cut us some slack will you? Up until last night we didn't know that The Tall Man was going to be real, alive and kicking."

"It isn't like this is the Hell mouth," Faith added. "It wasn't like a Hell portal or whatever made them real."

Willow, as she lay back in her bed, listening to the argument with a heavy hart. Faith _was_ right. It wasn't the Hell mouth that caused the Evil Tweedledum and Tweedledee to gain purchase on this small town. It was Willow's fault, all of the way! If she had just left it to the first travel with Mike as a child, then none of this gory extracurricular stuff would be happening! When she was worrying about what to do now, Willow fell into a deep sleep.

Willow was back at the house. She quickly walked downstairs into the basement. It was unfinished, but not without its own little charms. There were two sofas down there, each in the same area. She saw Mike lounged in one casually, and he looked up as she descended the stairs. For a moment, as he gazed at her, he shot her a smug look – a look which made Willow shiver. The peacefulness of earlier seemed now seemed like it happened ages ago.

"You don't have to be scared of me," Mike stated gently, like last time. "I will not hurt you." There was something about him now that he wasn't Tall Mike. Nothing romantic, but it seemed like he was the kind of guy you could sit down with a tell everything. He seemed like a great potential friend.

Willow sat slowly down next to Mike, who had to sip upright to allow her to sit. She still felt edgy, remembering all to well the sound of Reggie's back breaking under the violent treatment of Tall Mike. However, when she looked at this Mike, it was hard to picture him as the savage killer she almost got caught by. "So, um, what's up?"

"What are you running from?" He asked gently, eyes gentle and searching.

"I saw something I can't get out of my mind." Willow confided. "And I did

something equally as bad." She didn't want to tell pre-Tall Mike that she used

dark powers to murder another living thing. Granted, it was the Tall Man, but she

made one _stop living. _She told herself she'd never do that again after Warren! She

never did get over with what she did to Warren, no matter how much she never let the pain show. She couldn't see Mike all Mr. Understanding if she came out and told him, _Mr. Pearson, I killed a man years ago by flaying him alive and incinerating him with Dark Magick! _

"It's ok, there's no rush." Mike stated. It was as if he knew her thoughts were easing into serious territory. "I like hanging out with you. There's nothing bad about this but please do not tell anyone else. They'll only want to ruin your fun." With this, his eyes glinted with mischievously and he pulled off a fake pout.

Willow was sort of bought at this point. The peaceful air returned somewhat. "So what's up with you?" Willow asked and Mike shrugged.

"You know; the same old stuff."

Willow looked around, taking in her surroundings even further. There was a man standing besides the other, unoccupied sofa. He was staring first at Mike, then at Willow.

"Mike," The man called.

He looked about the same height as pre-Tall Mike. He looked older and had a receding hair line. His hair was almost the same as Mike's big darker – with slight gray at his temples. He wasn't almost rail thin like Mike, but he was far from overweight. His eyes were, from Willow's vantage point, blue. At times, when he focused his gaze on Willow, there was a focused intense look on his face that made her want to hide under covers. Mike looked up quickly, startled.

"What's up, brother?"

"He told me to break the connection. He is very upset with someone massacring the help." He focused his gaze back on Willow, "a friend of yours?" Willow liked the tone his voice; it was laid back.

"Yeah, we were just talking." Mike was still tense about what his brother said earlier. Nevertheless, he turned back to Willow, grinning. Willow couldn't help but notice that he had perfect teeth. "This is Jody, my brother." He turned to Jody, "Jody, this is Willow Rosenberg."


End file.
